Judd was back to winning ways with a 4-2 win against Justin Astley and 4-2 wins against Mark Allen and Mark Davis to reach the last eight. He then came up against Neil Robertson and won a tense match 4-3 on the black ball, making the highest tournament break to date during that match with a 141. Judd then met fellow Grove player Yu Delu in the last eight and ran out the winner, 4-1 and followed this up with a very swift 4-0 win against Fergal O’Brien in the semi final.

Judd was even quicker in the final against Ding Junhui. Unlike the World Championship semi final there was no marathon match this time, with Judd rattling off the 4 frames needed in just 41 minutes.

All seven Grove players were back in action at the second PTC event, this time taking place at the South West Snooker Academy.

Ronnie O’Sullivan also made it through to the last 8 with wins over Nick Jennings 4-1, Stephen Hendry 4-1, Matthew Stevens 4-3 and Liam Highfield 4-3 but then lost to Fergal O’Brien 3-4 in the quarter final.

Yu Delu enjoyed his best run to date on his first season on the Main Tour, with a win over fellow Grove player Matthew Selt 4-3 in round one followed by victories over Joe Jogia 4-2, Patrick Wallace 4-3 and Adam Duffy 4-3 before his defeat against Judd.

Grove Amatuer Chen Zhe made it through two qualifying rounds again with wins over Grzegorz Biernadski of Poland 4-1, and Brian Cox 4-0 (including a 100 break) but then came up against Neil Robertson in the first round proper and lost 0-4. Sadly Liu Song lost in round one to Sam Baird 3-4, Jack Lisowski lost 1-4 in the same round to Ireland’s David Morris and Zhang Anda lost in the first qualifying round to George Marter 3-4.

Liu Song was very unlucky not to join him after losing 4-5 to Mark King in the last qualifying round. World no 66 Song had a 5-4 win in round 2 against Tian Pengfei and then enjoyed a 5-1 win in round 3 against Tony Drago.

Matthew Selt defeated Ian McCulloch 5-1 in round 3 but also fell at the final qualifying hurdle 2-5 to Martin Gould. Yu Delu started in round 1 with a 5-1 win against Sam Baird but then lost by the same scoreline to Ian McCulloch.

Already in the last 32 are fellow Grove players Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan.

World no 43 Selt was defeated by Shaun Murphy 3-5, but this followed a 5-1 win against former World Champion Stephen Hendry which put him in the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time. This followed a 5-4 win on Tuesday against World Champion John Higgins. Higgins led the best-of-nine first round match 4-1 but Selt reeled off four in a row to make it through to the last 16.

Judd Trump wasn’t able to carry on his own fine form which took him to the World Championship finals in April, losing in the first round to qualifier Mark Davis 5-3.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was unable to participate after sustaining an injury prior to the event.

Grove new boy Yu Delu started in round 1 and after a close 5-4 win against Michael White, he had two great victories in defeating Joe Swail 5-1 and Joe Jogia 5-2. However he came unstuck against Ryan Day in the final qualifying round losing 0-5, but must look back on a very satisfactory run to open his Main Tour account.

Liu Song entered in round 2 and, despite going 2-0 up, lost out 3-5 to Sam Craigie.

Jack Lisowski also entered at the round 2 phase and enjoyed a 5-2 win against in-form Robin Hull. Jack met Tom Ford in round 3 in a repeat of the PTC final in August 2010 but was unable to get his revenge, losing 3-5.

Matthew Selt started in round 3 and enjoyed a good 5-1 win against another in-form player, Adrian Gunnell, and then finished off with a great 5-0 victory against Ricky Walden to book his place on the plane to Australia.

No Grove players in action in the first qualifying section, which involves World Snooker members outside the Main Tour. However, three players were in action in the first round of the second section.

Liu Song staged a remarkable comeback in beating Michael Judge 10-8 after trailing 1-6 towards the end of the first morning. However a great run of wins

Liu Chuang had a more comfortable day’s snooker, leading 7-2 at the close of play against 2003 Scottish Open winner David Grey, who now no longer plays on the Main Tour.

Sunday 6 March

Liu Chuang finished his match against David Grey, winning 10-3 and achieving breaks of 80, 67, 74 and 68 during the match.

Zhang Anda, who reached the Crucible last year before losing to Stephen Hendry, didn’t make it any further this year losing his first round match against Andrew Pagett 6-10.

Monday 7 March

Liu Song back in action against world no 53 Adrian Gunnell, ranked 15 places above him. This was a match where both players had periods of domination. After trailing 4-5 at the end of the morning session, Song won 5 frames in a row to lead 9-5. However Adrian then took the next 4 to come back to 9-9 before Song managed to win a tense deciding frame.

Jack Lisowski made his WSC qualifiers debut in the second round today against Kuldesh Johal and trails 4-5 after the first session.

Tuesday 8 March

Liu Chuang beat six-time World finalist Jimmy White 10-9 in an epic encounter which ended at 11.10pm tonight. No one player took advantage through the match and Chuang comfortably took the crucial deciding frame to set up an early morning Thursday meeting with world no 33 Tom Ford.

Jack Lisowski took 6 of the 8 frames played today to wrap up his match against Kuldesh Johal 10-8. Snooker legend Steve Davis awaits in the next round.

Wednesday 9 March

Liu Chuang enjoyed a fantastic win against Tom Ford in the third qualifying round. Tom is ranked no 33, 36 places higher than Chuang, but Chuang showed no signs of tiredness from the previous night’s marathon as he raced into a 6-3 lead at the end of the morning session, thanks to breaks of 127, 66, 56, 71 and 91.

When the players resumed at 7pm Tom stepped up a gear to level on 8-8. Chuang then came from 55-16 down to steal the next on the colours and completed his victory by winning 60-11 in frame 18.

Liu Song had an excellent start in his third round match against world no 47 Mark Joyce, racing to a 7-2 lead after the afternoon session.

Thursday 10 March

Liu Song wrapped up his third round match against Mark Joyce 10-6 and now meets Joe Perry in the final qualifying round on Saturday.

Jack Lisowski lost an epic encounter with six-time world champion Steve Davis 9-10. Jack led 6-3 after the first session but Steve benefitted from his additional 30 years of playing experience to close the match out on the deciding frame.

Matthew Selt was involved in another very close tie, finally coming thought 10-9 against Patrick Wallace.

The weekend

Judd Trump made it through to the Crucible with a 10-4 victory over David Gilbert.

It was agonisingly close for our other three players still in the mix. Liu Chuang lost to Ryan Day 7-10 and Matthew Selt and Liu Song were both defeated by Marcus Campbell and Joe Perry respectively. Bad news for these three players but a good week’s work which saw Matt retain his top 48 status for the start of next season, and both Chuang and Song stay on the Tour with a top 64 place guaranteed.

A good day for the Grove’s Chinese players with Liu Song beating Noppon Saengkham and Zhang Anda overcoming Patrick Wallace, both by a scoreline of 5-2. Liu Chuang had a tougher game against Jak Jones but came out victorious 5-3.

Friday 25 February, 2nd round:

Liu Song’s excellent form continued with a 5-0 wupping of Adrian Gunnell. Other Grove players didn’t fare so well. Jack Lisowski played his first match but lost 4-5 to Kurt Maflin – definitely the tie of the round with both players making two century breaks each. Zhang Anda lost 1-5 to Alfie Burden and Liu Chuang was beaten 3-5 by Jimmy White.

Saturday 26 February, 3rd round:

Liu Song and Matthew Selt both exit at the last 64 stage. Song had a tough game against in-form Tom Ford and after going 2-0 down managed to take the next three frames. However the higher ranked player’s form shows and Tom won 5-3. Matthew played his first match in the event against Alfie Burden and was defeated 4-5.

Sunday 27 February, 4th round:

Judd Trump was the only Grove player taking part today and he booked his seat to China and the final stages with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Ben Woollaston.

Lisowski, who is in his debut season on the professional tour, gave a fine account of himself at his first domestic venue, showing off his undoubted potting talent – though also a rawness which ultimately cost him the match.

A break of 70 gave the 19-year-old left-hander the first frame, but he missed several chances in the second and Higgins took it on the colours. Runs of 58 and 50 put Higgins 3-1 up.

Back came World No 58 Lisowski with 32 and 47 to win frame five, and he edged an error-strewn sixth after Higgins missed a long final green. Lisowski had an early chance in the decider but could only make 15 before missing a risky red to a centre pocket. That proved his last shot as Higgins knocked in 59 for victory.

“Jack’s a great young talent,” said World No 1 Higgins, who faces Dave Harold in the last 16. “He’s got a great way around the table and he’s got a bright future in the game. I’ve only seen clips of the young Jimmy White on Youtube but Jack reminds me of him.” (From worldsnooker.com)

Qualifying:

Jack Lisowski continued his great run of form which saw him reach the last 32 of the German Masters last month. Taking part in the second qualifying round for the first time due to his recent elevation to the top 64, he first beat Liam Highfield 4-1, then defeated Fergal O’Brien 4-0 and finished off with an excellent victory against World Open quarter-finalist Martin Gould 4-3. Jack’s reward is a first meeting against world No 1 John Higgins in Newport on Monday.

Three Grove players were involved in two first round matches – Liu Chuang and Zhang Anda were drawn against each other, with Chuang finishing up 4-2 winner. However Liu Song saw a good run of form end with a 0-4 defeat against Ben Woollaston.

Chaung and Matthew Selt joined Jack in round three with two wins, Chaung enjoying a close 4-3 victory over Anthony McGill, and Matt overcoming Jamie O’Neill by the same scoreline. However neither player was able to progress any further, with Chaung losing 1-4 to Dominic Dale and Matt losing 2-4 to Tony Drago. Judd Trump was unlucky not to progress to the final stages after losing 1-4 to Rod Lawler in round four.

Mark Williams held off a strong Mark Selby comeback in Berlin to claim his 18th ranking title with a 9-7 victory.

Williams led the Leicester man 7-4 in the evening session but Selby rallied strongly to level at 7-7. A tense 15th frame swung back and forth in front of the sell-out crowd in the Tempodrom, but crucially Williams pinched it and a break of 82 saw the world number two claim the title and the €50,000 winner’s cheque. Mark also beat Marco Fu, Joe Perry and Anthony McGill on his way to the title.

Mixed fortunes for our other players; Jack Lisowski and Liu Song, having made the final 32, were required to take part in a wildcard stage at this event.

Jack beat Belgian wonderkid Luca Brecel 5-2, but Song was defeated by Welsh amateur Daniel Wells by the same scoreline. It was a very tough draw as Daniel has had an excellent season is probably the best player outside the Main Tour at the moment.

5-2 turned out to be an unlucky combination for Jack and also for Judd Trump as they then lost their next matches by this scoreline, to Ricky Walden and Stephen Hendry respectively. The Grove can reflect on an excellent tournament for its young players who will consolidate their positions in the rankings with the victories earned to date.

Qualifying Event – 14-17 December 2010, Sheffield

A great qualifying tournament for the Grove’s players with three players making it through to the final televised stages for the first time.

Jack Lisowski was one of two players to win all three qualifying matches played, beating James McBain (who beat Jack in the Shanghai Masters qualifiers earlier in the season) 5-2, and then qorld no 35 Mike Dunn and world no 31 Marcus Campbell, both by scorelines of 5-3. Jack was delighted with his performance, telling us it was an “early Christmas present to himself”!

Liu Song also celebrated his return to the professional tour with three qualifying wins. Song beat Bjorn Haneveer 5-3, Jamie Burnett 5-4 and former world champion and world no 28 Ken Doherty, also by 5 games to 4.

Judd Trump, currently ranked 26 in the world, only had one qualifying match but overcame a tricky opponent in Jimmy Robertson 5-3, after falling 0-3 behind at one stage.

Matthew Selt had two wins in the first two qualifying rounds against Ben Woollaston and David Gilbert, both by 5-3, but then unfortunately lost 2-5 to Stephen Lee.

Zhang Anda lost 2-5 to Alfie Burden in the first round and Liu Chuang lost by the same scoreline in the same round to Jamie Jones.

All Main Tour players ranked 33-96 took part in the first and second rounds in qualifying this time, giving one less match to play for some of the Grove players, although qualifying matches are now the best of 9 instead of 7.

Liu Chuang and Jack Lisowski were both in round one and successfully negotiated their first-round opponents. Chuang beat Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo 9-4 and Jack won by the same scoreline – unfortunately at the expense of another Grove player, Zhang Anda.

Chuang then met Jimmy Michie, ranked 12 places above him at no 61 in the world, and won through 9-5.

Jack Lisowski met Matthew Selt in round two for another “Battle Of The Grove” and this was a close match until Matt pulled away to lead 8-5. Jack then won the next three frames but wasn’t able to snatch victory, Matt finishing the winner 9-8 late on Friday night.

Into round three and Chuang continued his winning ways with an excellent 9-5 victory against Alan McManus, ranked 26 places above him. Matt lost 6-9 though, to Dominic Dale.

Round four and Judd Trump secures his final place in the UK Championships proper up with a 9-7 win against Xiao Guodong. However Chuang’s excellent run comes to an end after losing a close match 9-8 against Ricky Walden.

Jack had a couple of narrow wins 4-3, firstly against Sam Harvey and then a great victory against world no 10 Graeme Dott. However, Jack lost in the third round by the same scoreline to another highly-ranked player, world no 18 Matthew Stevens.

Chuang received a walkover to round two where he beat world no 28 Joe Perry 4-2 but then was narrowly beaten 4-3 by world no 23 Barry Hawkins.

Liu Song also received a walkover to round two but then lost 3-4 to Jamie Cope. Cope then beat Anda in the third round 4-1. Anda had received a walkover to round two and then beaten Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo 4-2.

Judd Trump lost in round one to Adam Wicheard, 2-4 and Chinese amatuer player Chen Zhe managed to take one frame off world no 6 Stephen Maguire before losing 1-4. Matthew Selt beat Kurt Maflin 4-2 in the first round but then lost 1-4 to Stuart Bingham in the second.